Heart Break End to a Great Finale...

I had put my money on Netherlands at the start of the world cup itself and seeing them progress to the finals without losing a game was a wonderful and majestic feeling.

Holland have been one of the most exciting teams in Europe for years now, but due to the infighting in the team they have never been able to reach the lofty heights of success on the world stage.

On the other side of the equation were the "Golden Generation" of Spanish footballers who in the past 2-3 years had squashed every side in their path to the Euro-2008 championship.

The World Cup finals was as enthralling as any I have seen till date. It was more exciting since there were only 2 to 3 Dutch supporters in school against an army of Spanish renegades.

While viewing the finals in our small SSR t.v room, it seems like I was in a war zone, with the enemy waiting to slaughter me. Every action on the tele was accompanied by oohs and aahs from all around.

The game in itself was highly entertaining, with each team showcasing their strengths on the field. The Dutch midfield was resilient and organized and contained the Spanish mid field much better than the Germans.

The first half was punctuated with couple of easy scoring chances which were missed by Sergio Ramos, with 2 easy header.

The Dutch resorted to touch tackling and fouls in order to slow down the Spanish armada. They were successful to a large extend but had to offset the success with having more than half their team booked by the end of the 90 mins.

Robben and Sneider were the star performers for the Dutch in attack and the defence was well handled by Heintinga and Van De Weir.

The Spanish armada rolled as then had all through the tournament with Villa getting close to score on more than one occasion. the mid filed duo of Iniesta and Xavi kept creating sublime football in the middle of the park but the Dutch defence was at their their supreme best.

The 3 defining moments in the match for me were

1.] When Robben missed a simple chance to score in the 2nd half and his shot was well saved by Casillas. The ball by Sneider from mid field deserved a goal and Robben will be kicking himself for the rest of his life for the poor effort in front of goal.

2.] The save from Stekelenburg to keep out a Fabregas shot in the 2nd half of extra time was again a piece of brilliant keeping.

3.] The defining moment of the match was the red card to Dutch defender John Heitinga in the middle of the 2nd half of extra time which reduced Holland to 10 men.

Spain got the breathing place they wanted and as it seemed that the match would be heading for a repeat of World cup-2006 with the climax ending with penalties, in comes Iniesta with a goal in the 117th min of extra time. The man with the defining and all important cross being none other than "Fernando Torres" who till then had been a peripheral figure in the Spanish side in this WC.

It was a heart break to see Iniesta to score a goal so late in the game and the mad rush in the t.v room didn't help at all as all the Spanish supporters got together to hug each other as well as show their apathy towards the handful of Dutch supporters who were stunned to silence.

It was sheer joy to watch the final of the world cup with so many people and replicated the experience I had in 2006. However at that time I knew only a handful of the people around whereas this time, everyone present was known.

I still cannot believe that the Dutch lost the game and I can just imagine if I was feeling so bad after the game, how would the Dutch nations as well as the Dutch players feeling themselves.

I have been in the same situation myself when I was in engineering and lost the semis twice on penalties, but then I know that the experience just made me stronger. I guess the same goes with the Dutch squad.

I was the only one left in the T.V room after the final whistle and the presentation were done and I saw the last few minutes of the most magnificent world cup to date all on my own. The disappointment of defeat was balanced by a sumptuous breakfast at McDonald at 6 am in the morning and though I had class at 9.30 am, I chose to bury myself in the comfort of my bed.

Well for all my Spanish supporter friends...Congratulations...

You put your money on the right team...

South Africa 2010-You Beauty!!

South Africa-2010 was the greatest spectacle on Earth till date. Agreed the quality of football on display as well as the drama quotient was at a level lower than what we experienced in Germany-2006; however South Africa as a host nation;TAKE A BOW...

The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of international football and as such the tournament offers fans the unique experience of seeing so many stars performing at the highest level.

What an extravaganza!!! Everything about the tournament was perfect, right from the stadiums, to the organizers, to the crowd. The action on the pitch could have been better but still the tournament saw it's glimpses of extraordinary skill and supernatural performers with the likes of Diego Forlan, Wesley Sneider, David Villa, Meuller, Messi lighting up the stage at every given opportunity.

The stadiums for the tournament were indeed a piece of art as far as infrastructure is concerned. Not only were they state of art but the buzz around each stadium was an experience to cherish. South Africa came alive in all its colour and splendor; especially because of its people who were instrumental in making the tourney a huge success...

The Soccer World Cup provided South Africa the opportunity to show case to the world that they are no longer a third world country and are more than ready to step into the limelight.

The World Cup in itself was a wonderful sporting spectacle capturing audiences world wide. The action on the pitch was wavering in terms of quality and drama. However the strong showing of countries like Ghana, Paraguay and Uruguay brought the element of uncertainty to the fore.

However countries like England, Brazil, Argentina,France & Italy failed to live up to the pre-tournament hype.

The World Cup however did throw up some new soccer powerhouses who were traditionally known to be big tournament chokers. Spain and Netherlands did their reputation no harm and showcased their pedigree all through the duration of the tournament, establishing themselves as best 2 teams in the tournament.

In it's 80th year since the inception of the tournament in 1930; World Cup-2010 bought forth a new holder of the trophy in the form of Spain. Spain became the 8th nation to have won the most prestigious tournament in the world.

To conclude, as I said earlier, World Cup 2010 will be etched in my memory for a long time to come. The month long extravaganza has been one of the most memorable event in my 26 years of existence.

Football - My first love...

Thank God for football...I have no idea what I would have done without this sport...Since the first time I touched a football during my school days till date, I get such an adrenalin rush just watching a game of football that I can't put the feeling of how it feels to actually play it in words here.

My best time playing football were definitely after Xth std when I used to play football every night for at least 2 hrs. Sambit's building ground was my "Theater of Dreams" and it seemed that I owned the place...Wow I get goosebumps thinking about that time when playing football was the simplest thing I could do and at that time I was never had to be apprehensive about keeping my place in the team.I was always one of the first names on the team sheet.

This continued uptill my first and second year in engineering and I'll never ever forget the summer of 2002 when as part of the D.J.S.C.O.E team we won the the TSEc tourney for the first time...Wow what a tourney...I remember each and every game so vividly and it was so much fun playing with the seniors.Being the youngest in the team I was pampered so much by my teammates that I can't even comprehend.Year 2 was fun too but without any success...

3rd year of engineering was the most stressful as well as the most successful campain for me personally.It didn't help that I got injured before the start of the season but it was more diffucult to sit out in the sidelines after being fully fit.Not that the team wasn't doing well and that I wasn't getting game time but just sitting on the sidelines for 2/3rd of the game didn't really help me pshcologically. However as luck would have it I got my chance again in the TSEC tournament and I lead the attack scoring 4 goals in the tournament.However the season ended with a heartbreak as we lost our final match of the seaon on penalties and I was the one who scwered up the final penalty kick.

Well 4th year came and went and though we played a lot of matches in the final year, the feeling of camaradie amongst the teammates had dissappeared. It didn't feel like I was part of the team anymore.

Anyways the 4 years in D.J.S.C.O.E were the best as far as playing football and cricket went.Playing with classmates & friends was always fun and my whole engineering life revolved arounf the black and white ball...All I can say for that is I am happy with the memories.

Infosys Football Team:-

Enough said...The 3 years in Pune couldn't have been better as far as football was concerned.Though I never cemented my place in the final 11 till the end, it was pleasure knowing the guys and playing football with them when ever the oppurtunity presented itself. The fact that it was one of the most successful teams in the Pune IT circuit really helped keeping the dissappointment of not making the playing 11 consistently at bearable proportions but the fun I had in practice with the guys was something I'll always cherish.What a gang we had there...Oh boy...It brings a tear to my eye when I think about the batch of footballers we had in our group and the way we practised and the way we played and after winning more importantly the way we partied.

Well it's been 6 months here in the Phillipines and I have played the beautiful sport only twice now. However I have high hopes for this weekend.Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy the game the way I want and let myself go...Oh boy what would I do without football...

Barcelona vs Manchester United.UEFA CL finals-Afterthough...

Heart broken,frustrated, horrified and sad...These were my emotions right after the match ended in favor of Barcelona on Wednesday night.
Not that they didn't deserve to win, but the manner of Manchester United's defeat was a bitter pill to swallow.
People deserved a better final than the one at display.Barcelona were magnificent on the night and on the other side Manchester United struggled to put in a semblance of a fight.

I saw the real Manchester United play the way they do only for the first 9 mins 33 secs in which they bombarded the Barcelona goal with chance after chance and nearly scored twice in that period.

However the 10th minute goal by Samuel Etoo finished off the attacking intend of Man Utd and Barcelona dictated terms all over the pitch after that goal.

The disappointment stems from the fact that a team which had prided itself on having a great defense made a few glaring mistakes which took the game out of their own hands.

Barcelona really played like men possessed keeping the possession of the ball for long duration of time which in turn frustrated the United player's who after having eventually won the possession of the ball looked for long balls and quick attacks instead of slowing the game to their own pace.

I haven't seen a Manchester United team fare so miserably in a final ever since the time I started following the team.

I have taken a lot of shit from my friends & classmates for this defeat but after the initial disappointment, I am quite sure that Sir Alex Ferguson will rebuild this team to go on and beat the crap out of even this amazing Barcelona side next year.

Well played Barcelona...You deserved it but the Red Devil's will be back next year to fight you guys for the ultimate prize in Europe once again.
Glory,glory Man United...